Hello! Yes, I have been on a long hiatus from this domain. Apparently, I was swallowed up by the school volunteer monster for the past 4 years. It was a gift to be able to be soo involved in my kiddo’s school and sit on a PTA/PTO board. . . says no one ever! If you think the movie, Bad Moms, was satirical, think again! In all seriousness, it was an experience that I am glad I committed to and experienced. There were some pretty amazing bright spots in working along-side my kiddo’s teachers, dean, principal and some very dedicated parents, now dear friends.

Another thing I have been cookin’ for the past few years is being a Girl Scout leader for 20+ girls. Yes, I think I am crazy, but so worth the possible asylum issued straight jacket. It has been a treat to watch these kiddos grow up! I will be sharing some of our fun ideas, tricks and planning I have come up that helped navigate such a large troop.

As I write this, I feel like a bear coming out of hibernation and just wanting to gorge myself on every creative thing I see! So. . . in saying that, be forewarned! 😉

The first order of business in getting me pointed in the right creative direction, the hubs and I worked on relocating my craft space and giving it a HUGE facelift. I have to say, I am obsessed with rainbows. Living in Southern California, they are like finding unicorns. So the only logical remedy to my desire of chasing rainbows (outside of moving to Maui), is use them as the inspiration to brighten up my creative lightbulb hub.

Here are some shots of my new favorite room in the house. I plan on posting a video tour and organizational tips and tricks in the very near future!

Hello… I say sheepishly, as I know that it has been clearly over a year since I have posted a project. YIKES! Yes, I am slowly making my re-entrance back into sharing what I make. I humbly hope there are some of you that still remember me as I sneeze through the dust from my poor neglected blog and share this fun idea I came up with for my daughter’s 2nd grade teacher.

My kiddo’s teacher is truly powered by coffee. I am pretty sure it runs through her veins. She even has a Keurig in her classroom for coffee on demand. So coming up with an idea for her birthday was pretty set with coffee. I love making sure the kiddos are incorporated into the actual gift, so I figured out how to combine the both by adding some simple white card stock, Xyron Adhesive, a 2 inch circle punch and some kiddo creativity. I found a cute container for either coffee pods or wine corks at Kohl’s and poof, I got me an inexpensive, but sweet and useful gift for one great teacher!

Here is how I did it:

I punched out 2 inch circles and had kiddos decorate and write one kind word that comes to mind regarding their teacher.

Then I added adhesive to the back and slapped that baby on top of a Keurig Coffee Pod and called it a day! Yup, that easy! I have to say, she absolutely cherished this gift! You could stamp, use pretty paper, add cute embellishments . . . the world is your oyster with this idea!

That is it! Easy peasy lemon squeezy! Hopefully you found this one of those ,”Eureka!” type of crafty projects, like I did. AND mostly thanks for stopping by and visiting an old crafty friend.

Oh my have I been in a whirl-wind of summer fun with my kiddos! Today I resurface with this fun little project I made for a “Back To School” Party. I actually dusted off the ol’ Cricut Expressions and pulled out Doodle Charms and whipped these babies out – my kids even got in on the action!

Here is how I did it! The cut was the two basic cuts of the bus cut at 3.5 inches. I then stamped it with My Pink Stamper *retired School themed stamp set. I added some silver Candi to the wheels using a dab of hot glue.

I dug through some random paper I had on hand collecting dust and cut down to 5 1/4 wide x 7 inches long and folded in half. I then wrapped some ribbon around one half securing with tape and then I stapled them onto 5 inch clear bags (after I filled them with the goods).

Using Pop Dots, I added the little buses and called it done! Yup that easy!

Today I am lucky enough to be up on the Xyron Blog showcasing this project that has been on my bucket list for a LONG time. Xyron has partnered up with the fabulously creative company, Maya Road, and I lucked out with two different types of embellishments that just screamed must be used! I gathered up an old pallet piece I have been patiently allowing to cure, pulled out the paints once again, fired up my Silhouette and secured my two fav Xyron companions of Xyron Dots and the 5 inch Creative Station and got busy telling my geographical story.

So what I did here is just break down the acutal cut file to just the state by ungrouping and making a compound path and deleting all but the state. Then I cut each state at 4.5 inches (Cut files click HERE and HERE), ran it through my 5 inch Creative Station. I used the Brooklyn Stack from DCWV for the paper choice. I took the Maya Road Lisa Upper Case Letters and heat embossed them with a Rust Embossing Powder from Globecraft and Piccolo then ran through my 5 inch Creative Station and placed on the pallet.

Then for the crown jewel of the project, I scored these adorable wooden embellishments, Alterable Bingo Motifs from Maya Road, and added a little paint and Xyron Dots and placed them in the area of the cities my hubby and I have lived in. For instance my hubby lived in the Bay Area while he attended college so he got a bird signifying flying away from the nest. We currently live in Southern California so we have the house as a symbol.

I went to college in Dallas, Texas and the star star symbol is kind of a BIG deal in Texas so I added that.

For Colorado, I was born and lived in the Colorado Springs area and it still to this day owns my heart, hence the heart. Colorado is beautiful and when I am there visiting, it feels like it is home.

Be sure to head on over to the Xyron Blog and see what my other fellow Design Team gals have cooked up . . . they never disappoint!

Happy Tuesday and boy is summer flying by here! Speaking of summer I made a very fun gift for a friend that has three beautiful boys and they are all rays of sunshine in my book. When I got my happy mail from Xyron last month filled with May Arts Ribbon and Simple Stories Good Day Sunshine Collection I just fell in LOVE . . . in love enough to schlep out the paint, stencils and a mini pallet to cook up this colorful and full of life interchangeable picture collage that was made for this cheerful brood of boys!

As you can see I went to town with the craft paint using some stencils I had from Hazel and Ruby. Since this was geared for mugs of boys, I decided to be playful with the paint and allow for some rustic bleeding around the edges. All I did was add a very small amount water to the painted area with a paint brush and then smear it with my finger… got a few splinters, but it’s all good!

I cut down and added some card stock design paper from Simple Stories Good Day Sunshine Collection and ran it through my Xyron 5 inch Creative Station and applied it to the painted pallet. I then added the May Arts Ric-Rac Ribbon by hot gluing to the back of the pallet. This is base for anchoring pictures with the help of mini clothespins.

I added some sticker sentiments from the collection and then using Xyron Dots, I added some colorful sequences! Have I ever mentioned that my love for Xryon Dots run deep? This would be one of the things I would drag out with me in case of a fire!

As you can see this project is another super easy DIY number that could be a great gift or personal keepsake. Be sure to head over to the Xyron Blog and check out what my other fabulous partners in crafty crime have cooked up today!

Happy Almost 4th! Today is my lucky day to showcase a fun project I made using Lawn Fawn Stamp Set – So Much to Say and my trusty and I do mean trusty Xryon Mega Runner, that is up on the Xyron blog today. (Side note: I have used several Advanced Tape Guns and the Xyron Mega Runner is by far the BEST I have ever used- No fuss in the refill process and strong adhesive – I think I am in love!)

It is summer and if any of your are like me, you are in a fun whirl-wind of road trip travels, camping and kiddo camps. Since I have a 1st grader and a Kindergartner, I wanted to drag along some postcards they could practice their writing share their adventures with family and friends. I needed these to be bigger than the normal postcard due their giant chicken scratch eagerness of being early writers, so these will take a normal postage stamp. These are a cinch to make and you can even have your kiddos help or make on their own.

Here is how I did it (full supply list at the end):

For the Front of the Postcard: I found blank white card stock quality cards at the local craft store with the measurements of 6.5 inches wide and 4.5 inches tall. Using a paper trimmer, cut down some desired design paper with the measurements of 6.25 inches wide and 4.25 inches tall. I stamped the sentiment and image on the design paper. Using Xyron Mega Runner, adhere the design paper to the plain white card stock.

For the Back of the Postcard: Measure the card and find the middle. Using a ruler, draw a line using a Jelly Roll pen and added some dashes for interest. I printed “To” on the right side and stamped a coordinating image from the front.

I set up an “assembly line” and mass produced these in no time. You can go as simple or as detailed you want – keep in mind these are postcards and they need to be flush.

In just a few short days my kids will be hopped up on sugar and completely water logged, I will have gone to many car shows, participated in push and pull’em parade and soothed my sweet pound puppy as the sounds and sights of freedom light up my cul-de-sac as my kids dance around with sparklers. Yes, I just gave you my 4th of July run down and what better to kick it off than adorn my door with this simple 4th of July wreath.

Using the pinwheel cut file that came standard with my Silhouette software, I cut out two different sized pinwheels (4.5 inches and 3 inches) on Die Cut with a View Stack paper added some brads to hold it all together, added some buttons and baker’s twine and sprayed with Heidi Swapp Gold Lame Color shine for a fun finish.

I wrapped some cute burlap fabric given to me by my neighbor (can be found at WalMart) around a flat wooden wreath (found at Michales). Secured fabric with hot glue and added the pinwheels using Xyron Adhesive Dots. Another easy peasy wreath under my belt!

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This is a sweet reminder that A Piece of Life's Pie content (unless noted) is not your piece of pie. Use of my photos and/or artwork is for Personal Inspirations Only and may not be copied for commercial advertising, challenges, contest submissions, publications or resale. The Cliffs Notes Version: If you did not make it or bake it, please don't take it. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.